Opening in the 1940s, Stones’ Candy Cane Company (6190 Martin Way East) was a landmark Lacey business that made the holidays sweet every day of the year.
The company was owned by father-son duo Russell O. Stone (1900-1994) and Rodney L. Stone (1924-1998). Born in New York State, Russell was raised in Vancouver, B.C. After a stint in the Canadian army, he moved to Bremerton where he married Louise Grassman (1896-1973) in 1919.
Stones’ Candy Cane Company Opens In Lacey
The family moved to Olympia in 1930. An independent grocer, Russell operated several nut and candy manufacturing companies before moving out to Martin Way in mid-1946.
Among their products were candy canes. In November 1947, Stones’ Candy Cane Company exhibited at the Olympia Industrial Exposition at the Olympia Armory. The center of their exhibit was an eight-foot-tall candy cane. Peggy Heureux won it for correctly guessing its weight at 10 pounds, seven ounces.
In 1948, with such a promising start, the Stones decided to make candy canes their exclusive year-round product. That December, the company was officially incorporated with Russell as president and Rodney as production manager. Louise was also heavily involved. They employed 10 men and 30 women during peak months.
Selling both wholesale and retail, the company produced half a million candy canes that year alone, shipping them to merchants throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and California. Candy canes were also sold at the factory’s shop, facing Martin Way.
Stones’ Candy Cane Company was featured at the December 1948 Lacey Industrial Exposition in Heritage Hall. The event was sponsored by the Lacey Fire Department and its auxiliary.
The candy cane business expanded rapidly. In 1949 they produced nearly two million candy canes and the Stones partnered with Kenneth W. Shilling of Tacoma to create the K.W. Shilling Company to handle sales. The Stones were now selling to 24 states.
How a Lacey, Washington, Candy Cane Was Made
Stones’ Candy Canes were known for their red ribbons and six pinstripes. They came in five-and-half inch and seven-and-half inch varieties. The smaller ones sold three for a dime while the larger were a dime each. The seven-inch ones were most popular, but the company also made huge 36-inch giant candy canes. Costing $1.50, they came in special gift boxes.
Broken or defective canes were sold at reduced prices and sometimes donated to schools, hospitals and other institutions.
The Stones’ candy making process was both an art and a science. The following description is based on a December 13, 1964 Tacoma News Tribune article by Erna Bence.
Each 30-pound batch – 24 pounds granulated sugar, seven pounds water, six pounds syrup – was mixed in a covered, elevated 3,400-gallon tank outdoors. The mixture was piped by gravity flow to a gas-flame heated open copper kettle inside. Once the batch reached 300 degrees, a man (with thick gloves) turned the contents onto a water-cooled metal table.
Another worker then used heavy steel rollers to roll, chop, pound and slap out every air bubble in the hot amber mass that thickened quickly. Once the mass was workable, a strong candymaker slung the batch over a wall hook and began to pull and toss it as the mixture faded from amber to a creamy white satin.
The candy was then placed on a non-stick dressed canvas-covered work table, which protected its gloss. A book-sized chunk was separated and colored with red food paste. That part would become the wide ribbon stripe. “The remainder,” wrote Bence, “like a soft pillow, is dotted with six large, perfectly spaced polka dots of color, and the red ‘book’ is tucked into a fold at the upper end. Then the pulling and twisting begins—out and around and out, while the big stripes and dots become stripes, accurately spaced to the 100th of an inch.”
Open gas flames next to the table kept the candy malleable, allowing workers to snip the candy to sizes marked on the table. The still-warm candy was then moved in front of cooling fans where women rolled them straight and creaseless alongside long steel bars. Just before the candy reached the cracking stage, they were bent in a crook shape. “This is crucial,” Bence wrote, “a cane can break easily here, or turn out flat on one side.”
Candy was then allowed to cool at room temperature in a separate room before being bagged.
Lacey Candy Cane Company Closes Out
In 1961 a now-retired Russell and Louise opened Stone’s Square, a square dance hall and rental space behind the factory. Bert Hoard of Shelton took over Stones’ Candy Cane Company as owner and manager, keeping the name.
Hoard began making suckers, hard candy and peppermints throughout the year, producing candy canes only part of the year.
In 1965 Hoard reluctantly purchased machinery to do the sizing and striping. With increased automation, they were producing 14,500 candy canes per day during peak holiday production the next year. Their giant candy canes, however, still needed to be made by hand, in January, when the weather was just right.
But the market was changing and sugar prices were rising. The candy company was forced to close in 1970.
The old candy cane building then housed Bettine’s South Sound Marine and other businesses before being torn down in 2016.
Operating in Lacey for over 20 years, countless school classes and scout groups toured the Stones’ Candy Cane factory, including my Dad and Uncle’s cub scout pack. The company may be gone, but the sweet memories still linger.
